Hey folks, Harry here. So far the word on both THE PERFECT STORM and THE PATRIOT has been pretty damn fine... But we haven't had too many folks that have seen both films. The Juice has, and the Juice prefers THE PATRIOT. Like I said back when I saw THE PATRIOT, I felt it was a better film for me than GLADIATOR... BUT... This Thursday, I'll be seeing THE PERFECT STORM first... then I'll see THE PATRIOT when it opens. From the sound of things whichever film you end up choosing to see first... you'll win. Neither is anything remotely aproaching a bad film from all accounts. Here's The Juice with more...
Back again Harry and I have my own personal confirmation…The Patriot is a better film than The Perfect Storm.
I speak only the truth…
First thing is first, WOW the effects in TPS are Incredible! My hat is off to all involved. Despite several unfinished CGI scenes I felt blown away (and sea sick). Next notice that I credited the special effects FIRST…well that's because it is the only thing TPS has in fact gotten perfect.
The cast is wasted…even Clooney. It is the day after and I don't even recall his character's name, other than the crew called him "Skip". No actor is let loose and we aren't attached to any of the characters. This fact is magnified when the storm comes. All of the crew parades around in raincoats and hoods, making each character nearly indecipherable. You don't know how excited I was to see this film, and although I still enjoyed it, it wasn't the monster I hoped it to be. Worst of all we are treated to two incredibly pointless side-plots. One of a sailboat caught in the storm with a man and two women, we know nothing about them or what they are doing out there…and subsequently we could care less if any of them survive. Yet we are forced to watch their struggle and the rescue Helicopter crew who attempt to save the sailboat as well as themselves in between the story of the Andrea Gale. Once again too much time is taken from the Andrea Gale because of these side stories. Instead of getting to know the Gale's crew like we should, and possibly even caring more about them we are stuck watching what we didn't come to see.
I never got into Whalberg's character as well…he seemed like too much of a pretty boy to be a fisherman. Clooney looked more his part, but again for a hard-nosed captain he was well underwritten. His only lines are lets fish and I'm the captain! He had practically no interaction with the rest of the crew and his supposed bond with Whalberg seemed particularly weak. But not this is not his fault...blame it on the script.
Ok, Ok so maybe I am sounding a bit harsh…but these are glaring problems I had with the film. I just felt it could have been so much better if the side-stories were cut and more time was spent getting to know the crew of the Andrea Gale. Maybe the ending would be more emotional that way…
***Small spoiler if you don't know what happened to the Andrea Gale***
The drowning sequences of the Andrea Gale crew seemed recycled…the isolation, the slow rise of the water. I personally felt it had been done better in White Squall and Titanic. I liked Clooney's death but once again I didn't care enough about his character to get emotional over it.
***End spoilers***
It's hard to deny how sweet some of the action sequences are though. When Clooney attempts to cut an anchor and when a crew member is hooked overboard you are thrown to the edge of your seat. But this film becomes what no one expected it to be…a brainless action flick.
I know you guys don't want to believe me and I fully encourage you to see the film on your own, the special effects alone are worth admission…just lower your expectations a bit. Hands down though Patriot is a better film, you may not believe me now but come the end of the month you will see what I am talking about.
And like that The Juice is gone…
